The Washington Society

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

In 1787, the United States of America was in dire straits. Economic troubles, fierce regional rivalries, and domestic instability all threatened to plunge the new republic into chaos, with the national government powerless to respond. In this time of crisis, George Washington - who just four years earlier had resigned his commission as Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army and, as he thought, retired from public life for good - set aside his personal aspirations to lead his nation into a new renaissance.

Two hundred twenty-eight years later, that nation's successor - the Republic of Atlasia - finds itself in a similar position. The time has come once again, therefore, for concerned and patriotic citizens to set aside their differences and commit the full power of our collective determination to pulling our country back from the brink of collapse.

The Washington Society is a non-partisan organization for any and all citizens who want to fix Atlasia, not scrap the works at the whim of a few. We stand committed to proposing bold, rational solutions to our country's problems with the long-term goal of sparking revived interest in the game as a whole.

Those who stand with us, kindly add your names below.

[Leinad]

X Leinad

I 100% agree with this, and would agree with this more if that was mathematically possible!

Why I'm joining: I'm just some crazy Libertarian millennial in Atlanta with too much time on his hands who decided to use that to join this site. I've taken an interest to Atlasia more than most sane people would take interests in things. As part of the partisan uncivil nonsense that is unfortunately one of the hallmarks of the game and a big reason why the nation is suffering, I was recently accused of being a sock by two of the Doomsdayers--a Senator and Cabinet member, no less. Most people would be offended enough to quit, but due to my poor judgement I have no intention of doing that. In fact, that makes me, even more, want to help solve the nation's problems.

We need civility, bi-partisan solutions, and capable leadership to bring Atlasia out of this mess and to a brighter future. I applaud--nay, give a standing ovation to Speaker Truman for his efforts, and let's hope that together, the Washington Society can bring us to that brighter future!

[Classic Conservative]

x Classic Conservative

I thank Harry for creating this society and I hope to create bipartisan issues to our problems.

[Blair]

x Blair

We must remain committed to the Atlasian Dream

[DKrol]

x DKrol

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

It's heartening to see a diverse array of parties and ideologies taking part in this, and particularly to see such prominent Atlasians as Blair and Dkrol lending their influence to our cause.

One of our members, Classic Conservative, has started a petition to call a Constitutional Convention. While I share many of the concerns others have expressed with this line of approach, I do not see a better one at present. However, if a convention is called, it will be essential to build a common consensus on the causes of the current malaise and a general approach to solving them. That's where we come in.

The way I see it, these are the main defects of the game as it stands today:

1. A general lack of competitive elections, especially at the Regional level.
2. More offices than can be filled by active users.
3. A lack of engaging issues for lawmakers to deal with (the "everything's already been done" aspect that Blair and others mentioned)
4. An unstable and inconsistent Game Engine
5. A lack of ideological competition (this is somewhat related to points 1 and 3).

I would encourage members to add to this list if necessary and, more importantly, to propose solutions to these problems. That way, in the event that a Constitutional Convention is called, we'll at least have a vague idea of what our path forward should be.

[Leinad]

I'm in favor of a ConCon, but I don't think a reset would be a good idea just yet. At least do the Convention, make some reforms, wait a bit to see if it works, and revisit.

Here's the defects (I'll add another one) and possible solutions:

1. A general lack of competitive elections, especially at the Regional level.
Possible solution: More people. If there's a better solution, I'd love to here it.

2. More offices than can be filled by active users.
Possible solution: Same as above.

3. A lack of engaging issues for lawmakers to deal with (the "everything's already been done" aspect that Blair and others mentioned)
Possible solution: Encourage an active Game Moderator. Both Blair and Yankee have praised GMs like Kalwejt for their activity, even if it's sometimes controversial. Without GM-based events, there really isn't much for them to do. I mean, it's not like they can make marijuana even more legal or make the death penalty even more abolished.

4. An unstable and inconsistent Game Engine
Possible solution: More details on how the GM should operate. Maybe automate some things (specifically economic matters).

5. A lack of ideological competition (this is somewhat related to points 1 and 3).
Possible solution: I think that would fix itself if 1 and 3 are fixed.

6. A lack of civility in the game. This makes it harder to keep new members (see solutions for points 1 and 2).
Possible solution: Just refraining from being jerks. It's not hard. I'd hate to think we'd need laws to abolish jerkery, but if so, that shouldn't be ruled out. Important people like the President should encourage better behavior.

[Prince of Salem]

Bold, rational solutions. Of course I support them.

x Altsomn Stmarken

[rpryor03]

xrpryor03

[Hatman 🍁]

Shouldn't this be the Nyman society? Or has his name been tainted across the plains?

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

Shouldn't this be the Nyman society? Or has his name been tainted across the plains?

The Society seeks to emulate the example set by George Washington in the days of the Old Republic.

[Blair]

And they say Atlasia is dead

[MyRescueKittehRocks]

The Coolidge Society stands behind the Washington Society and their efforts on constitutional reform.

Assemblyman JCL
Founder and President of The Coolidge Society

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

At-Large Senator Cris (CR-KS) recently proposed a series of reforms to the Constitution that I think merit our attention. The majority of his post deals with the problems facing Atlasia, but he does bring up some interesting solutions, particularly in regard to inactivity at the Regional level and restructuring the Senate.

- Number of regions --> the current number is enough. There are difficulties to fill regional legislatures.
- Legislative sytem (Senate, also bicameralism can be discussed) --> a reduction of number of regions would lead to a change in the Senate. We can discuss about At-Large seats and why not about bicameralism.
- Elections system --> At-Large elections (expecially elections for 5 seats) are not working.
- Relationship between regions and fed govt, powers denied to regions.

These are the fundamental things, IMHO, and I'm sure that changes on these thing would be important and fundamental. But I'm sure there will be debates about the Cabinet, impeachment and other things.

[Classic Conservative]

Yes, I urge all Washington Society members to sign the petition to reform our current Atlasia through a ConCon!!!

[Senator Cris]

x Cris

I'm 100% that all of us want the same thing: a reformed Atlasia.
The regions system is not working. With 5 regions, there are difficulties to fill the regional governments.
The legislative system is not working. The Senate is not working as some times ago.
Our current election system is not working. At-Large elections are so boring, expecially those with 5 seats to fill. If we want to make election more competitive, we should change our system about elections.
The powers denied to regions from federal government and the relationship between fed govt and regions are also big issues on which a reform is necessary.
And don't forget the Cabinet, the GM questions. And the impeachment process.

These are the problems, but we should solve these problems. How? A dissolution of Atlasia, that will be soon discussed in the Senate, is not the right track. The right track is a process of reforms, bold and major reforms that lead to a new start for our country. A new start in enthusiasm, a new start in partecipations. This new start can be reached only with reforms and according to our Constitution, we can make these reforms with a Constitutional Convention and I really hope that it will have the support of all members of this Society and of all Atlasians.
A ConCon can reduce the number of regions, a ConCon shall discuss of legislative reforms. A change in number of regions might lead to a positive change of the Senate and why not a bicameral system.
A ConCon can abolish At-Large elections for 5 seats, that are really boring. A ConCon can insert districts or other voting systems.

[windjammer]

XWindjammer

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

I suppose I'll answer my earlier question. The more perspectives we have on this, the better.

1. A general lack of competitive elections, especially at the Regional level.
While Leinad is correct that more players would theoretically increase activity, I don't think we should rely entirely on this. For one, not all new players become active: there are over 150 registered voters today, yet we still have trouble filling positions and finding candidates. Also, recruitment is what we might call a "private sector" solution: it's a great idea and I hope it becomes reality, but we need to couple it with governmental reform in the event that it is not.

I would suggest decreasing the number of Regions to four, or perhaps three, depending on whether the populations of the Mideast and Northeast will agree to consolidate. There's been much controversy surrounding this point (I myself have been hesitant to merge my Region with another), but at this point I think that some form of consolidation is absolutely necessary if we want to see sustained competition at the Regional level. In addition to increasing the populations of the affected Regions, consolidation has the added bonus of decreasing the number of available offices, and fewer offices will almost certainly lead to more contested elections.

2. More offices than can be filled by active users.
Essentially the same as above: we need to decrease the number of offices available, and the best way to do that is Regional Consolidation.

I feel obliged to note that as any proposed Constitution would require the assent of the affected Regions, we would not be "forcing" consolidation on anyone. Anti-consolidation citizens would have the ability to vote against the Constitution (though, of course, I would suggest they not).

3. A lack of engaging issues for lawmakers to deal with (the "everything's already been done" aspect that Blair and others mentioned)
I see two ways to potentially deal with this: we need to either grant new and increased powers to the GM, allowing him to simulate new economic, social, and international problems for the Senate to respond to, and/or we need a legislative reset.

4. An unstable and inconsistent Game Engine
The GM's powers need to be clearly written into law so that controversies like Nuke-a-palooza don't occur. I'm not sure how to prevent abuse on the part of the GM, but we certainly need a clause stating that no official (or citizen) can challenge the legitimacy of the GM's storyline. A lack of realism can occasionally be annoying, yes, but mob rule is much, much more damaging to the game.

An alternative solution (which, for the record, I oppose) would be to eliminate the GM position or to limit its powers to reporting on the state of the economy.

5. A lack of ideological competition (this is somewhat related to points 1 and 3).
This one really can't be fixed by governmental action, but it's worth brining up anyways. One of the biggest reasons that elections have been less "fun" of late is that the political right has been in steady decline over the last few months. In days gone by, the Mideast was a solid Federalist stronghold and the Midwest was competitive; in the last federal election, however, both regions went for the Labor candidate by more than 60%. I don't think anyone's to blame for this (no-one can fault Yankee for not trying to recruit more conservative users), but it would be great if the political right were competitive outside of a few strongholds in the South and Northeast.

6. A lack of civility in the game.
Don't be jerks, guys.

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

Our official logo:

Members
Harry S Truman (Founder)
Leinad
Classic Conservative
Blair
Dkrol
Altsomn Stmarken
Rpryor
Cris
Windjammer

So far, we count three Senators, one Governor, one Regional Speaker, and citizens from four political parties among our members. Onward and upward!

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

Hell I'm in

x Kalwejt

[Barnes]

I think man of the proposed ideas in here are good ones, but I've really come to the conclusion that the best way to help the game is to start over.  Implementing many of these proposals (or at least debating them) would certainly be possible if we try to build a whole new game.  I mean, we have eleven years of a continuous game to serve as help as well.

I'll also just say that I'm very glad organizations such as this (all props to Truman) and A New Start have popped up to allow people to actually debate their proposals and ideas.  More discussion and activity are always positive.

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

Well, so far we've had input from Leinad, Cris, and myself. We've had some good suggestions so far, but I'd like to see some of our other members weigh in as well so that we can get as many different perspectives as possible.

[Blair]

Problems with Atlasia

1.) People Who Care- we need a good stream of players, without a doubt. What many people have ignored in the last couple of weeks is that Atlasia thrives on activity-July was one of the least active months on record. We had 6/10 Senators for most of the month, and a Presidental Election where neither side published a manifesto, or any policy. Now we need to value that this is just a game, and that RL issues can and will come up at any stage. However I think people need to put something into the game, and see what happens. As I've said before it needs a shot of Adrenaline-look at the Senate in the last couple of days.

2.) GM- I thought Kal was a brilliant GM, and it's ashame he was forced out. What was worse was that no-one was paying attention to him at all, literally he published about 10-12 stories and no-one did anything related to it. There's no point having a GM if he's ignored, and you also need a GM who is active in the Future. As said before, it seems stupid the Senate could pass a 100% wealth tax, and not expect to see any problems. We're suppose to be politics nerds-surely we could get a bit wonky time to time. An active thriving Atlasia needs a GM, and a GM that is listened to.

3.) Parties- Clearly there's an issue with the way that parties have become, largely the fact that as many said you can simply join a party without any campaigning and get elected to a regional seat. People literally vote for a donkey with a rosette-this happens on all sides of the political spectrum. The Party system has lead to awful rivalries that seemed based on absolutely nothing apart from long term fueds. Labor seem hated for their relative power in the last couple of months, along with it's reserves of voters, TPP have split in two over this issue and have always been a strange party in that they have  centre left liberals and centre right conservatives. The Federalists have fallen apart, with a slight fightback and Civic Renewal are a new party that whilst active only has 1 Federal office holder. The Party system is clearly broken with all parties becoming rather souless.

4. Government-Due to a lack of events the Federal Government has been reduced to a campaigning tool, where no major efforts are taken on the whole. Despite it's powers the President has become a figure head who signs bills. It's ironic that we have such a deeply divided party system yet the Presidency is not cared about unless there's an election. Again links back to the lack of a GM presence on the board
  

[rpryor03]

...Civic Renewal are a new party that whilst active only has 1 Federal office holder...

I believe the correct number there is 2, Blair.

[Blair]

...Civic Renewal are a new party that whilst active only has 1 Federal office holder...

I believe the correct number there is 2, Blair.

Well it hardly makes a difference from the larger point-considering you were appointed rather than elected